Reunited
by The Mirage-Healing Alchemist
Summary: The boy who survived his incredible story has grown into a man, but he is constantly looking for the friend he lost. SPOILERS FOR THE GAME WITHIN!


A/N: I do not own anything The Last Guardian related. Any views expressed in this fanfiction is purely of my own opinion of what happened during/after the game. I'm using English as their language.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME THROUGH THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

"Elder? What is it?" One of the children asked, pointing at the mirror. When his eyes came across the mirror the local children had stumbled upon, his heart soared. Memories rushed through his mind of the beast and the nest.

How many years had it been since he had gone to the nest? How many years had passed since the beast left? The elder had grown from a boy to a man and now he was the elder of the village. The years since the beast had left had been kind on him. Now that he was grown, many of the events that had transpired in the castle made more sense to him. More of Trico's behaviors made more sense to him as well.

When the beast left and he had healed, he had tried, in vain, to look for the beast, only venturing as far from the village as he could. Every day, he would search for some sign. A feather, a drop of blood, anything that would lead him back to his friend. During each search, he would have a deep fear of finding the creature dead. After three weeks, he finally gave up, his heart broken. Although, "gave up" probably isn't the correct phrase. His father and the village elder made it clear that even if the boy did find his friend, the villagers would surely end the creature's life. But he had never given up hope. Never gave up the dream that someday, Trico would return for him. Someday, he would see his friend.

"Let's clean it, and I will show you." The elder said and the children nodded. They spent the rest of the day cleaning the dirt and rust off the mirror until it was shining. That night, when the stars shone bright in the sky, he gathered the children once again, showing them the now clean mirror. The children looked at it with interest, two of them holding torches. The elder held the handle then shone it up at the night sky.

"Woah! Awesome!" The children cried as the mirror shone it's light into the sky. The elder felt a tremble through him, unaware that his markings also glowed from his head down to the ones on his legs in a wave.

Elsewhere, in a dark room, two teal horns started to glow in the darkness. A familiar tremble flowed through the beast, waking him from his slumber. Trico rose his head, his eyes shining green faintly. The tremble flowed through his mate who also awoke and looked from her mate towards the entrance of the cave. Soft cries met his ears and Trico knew his pup was awake too. Trico rose to his feet, his heart hammering in his chest. Was the boy alive? Trico hadn't felt anything since he left the boy with the humans he originally took him from. Trico let out a soft roar, looking at the door. He knew the boy wasn't there, that was impossible.

Trico had to go to him. What if the boy needed help? Trico looked at his mate, but she let out a cry to tell him to go. Trico snorted and took off down the tunnel, only hesitating at the water. Once outside, he let out a long howl, the sound echoing through the nest. Many other howls joined his as the Trico's of the valley reacted to the call of the mirror. Trico took flight, flying up to the edge of the nest. His wings had healed so Trico could fly without crashing into things when he landed. He had to hurry. Trico flew towards the village, letting out a loud roar as he did so.

The elder put the mirror down, looking up at the night sky. He wanted to believe that the creature was still alive. Ever since Trico left him, he believed he recovered from his wounds and stayed in the nest. While his father told him that the creature had most likely perished, he himself refused to believe that. He had seen Trico recover from several wounds and knew that he couldn't be dead.

"So all the stories you told us are true? About the beasts?" One child asked. The elder turned his gaze to the child and nodded.

"They are true. Now, off to bed with you all. It is late." He replied. The children smiled and left to go to bed. The elder stayed and gazed at the sky, something he had done many times before. Deep down, he had hoped that by finding the mirror, his friend would return. He had hoped he would get to see his friend once again. He stayed outside for another hour, gazing at the stars, thinking of his friend.

The elder turned to go inside, but a sound met his ears. A sound that made his heart skip a beat. He turned towards the sound of beating wings. There, just on the horizon, was a dark shape. It was flying towards the village. Was it Trico? He grabbed a torch and held it up, but when he looked back, a bird flew overhead. Feeling disheartened, he put the torch back and started for his hut, holding the mirror.

A faint tremble was felt in the ground, but the elder chalked it up to his imagination. There was no way Trico would return to the village. A roar startled him, making the elder turn. There, trotting towards him, was Trico, the ground trembling beneath his footsteps. The elder stood, staring at his old companion, not sure if the creature was real or a figment of his imagination. The creature knelt down and sniffed him before jumping around and crying out with joy. The ground trembled beneath the creature's weight.

"Trico." The elder whispered as the creature knelt down to nuzzle him. The elder stroked his friend's face, laughing, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"TRICO!" A villager shouted, making both of them look up. Several men were coming with spears. The elder felt his friend tense and snort and knew this could end badly.

"STOP!" He shouted, moving between Trico and the men. The men paused, confused at their elder's actions.

"Elder, please, it's dangerous." One of the men pleaded. The elder shook his head.

"No, he's not dangerous. He means us no harm. Put those spears away." The elder ordered. The men hesitated, but then lowered them and dropped them. Trico relaxed behind the elder. The elder turned to his friend, looking up into those black eyes that he remembered so well. The creature roared at him and the elder smiled.

"Look!" Someone cried and the elder turned to see several more landing in the square. The elder's eyes widened, but he knew that they no longer meant any harm. With the Master of the Valley dead, the Trico's were harmless. One came up to his companion, nuzzling him and letting out a soft cry. The elder's eyes widened and a smile broke out across his face. A face poked out from behind the wing of Trico's mate and the elder knew it was a baby Trico. The mother set the baby down then set down two more. The babies were the size of ponies and the elder felt his heart clench. Their black eyes surveyed the elder before they all ran at him to play.

"Look how cute they are!" A child cried, having exited the hut to see what the commotion was outside. Several more Trico babies were running around and the children ran to play with them as the villagers carefully neared the Tricos.

"Elder. I thought you said they all perished when the Master of the Valley was defeated?" A villager asked, helping the elder up from being tackled by the babies.

"I thought they did. When the master of the Valley was defeated they all fell from the sky. I thought they perished, but I guess not." The elder replied then looked up at his friend.

"Then again, Trico was struck by lightning and fell from a greater height as well as had two spears in him and he survived." The elder added, smiling. He felt something change in the village as all the villagers took to the Trico's. Maybe, just maybe, they could start anew. Maybe, the Trico's would be considered a threat no more. But that only begged the question. With the Master of the Valley dead, the Trico's had no source of barrels. So what were they eating?


End file.
